EUC Rants and Raveshttp://vdirantsandraves.com
My Love and Hate of End User ComputingTue, 26 May 2015 22:57:02 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2Goodbye Old Friend – Hello New Worldhttp://vdirantsandraves.com/2014/03/27/goodbye-old-friend-hello-new-world/
http://vdirantsandraves.com/2014/03/27/goodbye-old-friend-hello-new-world/#commentsThu, 27 Mar 2014 13:20:38 +0000http://vdirantsandraves.com/?p=260Without sounding big headed I genuinely thought we had and in “some” areas still have one of the most modern desktop environments going (at a solutions level anyway). While I’m full of opinions I’ll always engage 100% with what’s around the corner even if sometimes past loyalties have to be moved to one side for the greater good.

But what was good for yesteryear is not always appropriate to move us forward.

Hello New WorldIt is with great pleasure to announce that we have entered into a 3 year deal with VMware for an Enterprise License Agreement for our entire datacentre and EUC stack – Horizon Mirage and View. This is part of a clear step forward for us as we rationalise/standardise our strategic partners moving forward and meet the growing demands of our Business and users.

On a personal level, this (the Mirage element) is something I’ve been working hard on for a long time and is finally coming to fruition – I’m looking forward to the next few months!

In addition to this we are drastically scaling back our VDI architecture (Losing our claim on the largest RemoteFX environment) to a deployment for 1000 CCU sessions using IBM, Teradici and Atlantis Ilio (Did I mention how cool Ilio is?). Why are we scaling back our remote desktop offering? What was wrong with it? Why we’re moving forward with traditional desktops? – These questions will be answered at Briforum UK (shameless plug).

BTW – View has come a long way since I last reviewed it… Looking forward to seeing how the elements of desktone and View are merged together in the future.

The ELA and new VDI environment are just a few of the many activities and projects under way that I will no doubt talk about in the future.

So that leads me too…

Goodbye Old FriendAs I’ve already said sometimes old loyalties have to be moved to one side and through all the excitement and great things we’re embarking on there is inevitably going to be a victim (or two).

My old friend in this case is Dell vWorkspace (formally Quest).

It’s no secret that I’ve always been the biggest vWorkspace fan boy, arguing why it’s a valid competitor to Citrx/VMware and promoting it at all sorts of events. I don’t think this will change. I truly think from a management/IT perspective it’s the best remote desktop solution going.

However… It no longer fulfils our Business and User requirements moving forward. There are some other “reasons” why we’re moving away too but I don’t think now is the time to share these – That would require a bar to be present

It’s been one hell of a time vWorkspace. I wish the remaining vWorkspace team (not many left now) all the best for the future

So why did I blog this? I know we’re observed by vendors and organisations as to what we do in this space. I felt I had to state that vWorkspace isn’t being retired because it’s a bad product. It’s just no longer has a place here and we’re moving on to bigger and better things.

]]>http://vdirantsandraves.com/2014/03/27/goodbye-old-friend-hello-new-world/feed/2RES IT Store – A New Era for Self Service Deliveryhttp://vdirantsandraves.com/2014/02/03/res-itstore-a-new-era-for-self-service-delivery/
http://vdirantsandraves.com/2014/02/03/res-itstore-a-new-era-for-self-service-delivery/#respondMon, 03 Feb 2014 07:00:50 +0000http://vdirantsandraves.com/?p=229Last year I wrote a post ‘The Power of a Service Store’ which barely scratched the surface on the power of self-service delivery. This week thanks to RES Software the world of IT has welcomed one of the most exciting new products in recent years, IT Store – Happy Birthday!

In brief IT Store is the successor/new version of RES’s Service Orchestration solution which was an extension of Automation Manager. Now sold as a separate product (but still with the same level on integration for Automation Manager and Workspace Manager users) the major new feature is the stunning user interface.

Before I start covering this, it’s worth noting that the whole RES product suite has been updated (with a funky new installer too) with tons of new features so check it out.

We’ve been using the IT store to deliver services and applications to 23,000 users since September last year (8000 before that). Out of those users, just over 21,000 of them have subscribed to services with just under 200,000 service transactions having taken place.

In 2012 we pestered RES quite hard about the un-user friendly Service Orchestration client (below).

Luckily RES shared our vision (or we shared theirs :P) and several months after invited us to be an early launch customer and work with them to help develop what the IT Store is today.

The new interface replaces the client (above) with a new look web portal that can be accessed with any browser (not just Windows – Cool now there is an OS X Agent for Automation Manager). It’s a simple install (3-4 mins) and utilizes IIS. On a domain joined Windows box users will automatically be signed in to the store on launch.

From a user’s perspective this is a quick view of the experience:

Once in you are presented with the home screen (the looks/style/logo can all be changed via the management console which has received some welcome performance improvements).

By default you see a “tiled” icon view of available services with a customizable logo and description. You can click on the service for more information and screenshots. You can also change the view from tiled to detailed (my preference).

What’s proved popular with our users is the URL support in the service details. You can link a service to the relevant support information/site. We use Lynda.com to provide our users with lots of software tutorials which simply opens a new browser window.

Depending on the service you can either ‘request’, ‘install’ or ‘Add to Cart’. The Add to Cart feature is my current favourite and really adds value for new users who need to compose their workspace when they start. You can configure the options depending on the service for example some services might require user input and aren’t’ suited to being used in conjunction with a shopping cart.

We have around 400 services (mainly apps) and this increasing by 10 – 20 per week. Luckily the built in service search facility is pretty instant plus with the help of category views finding the services you require is fast and fluid.

On the left hand side under the cart/home button you will find the message centre and transaction history buttons.

Using the History button you can view your current and past service transaction history (with filters).

I will be doing more IT Store blog posts over the coming weeks and months. I’ll demonstrate how easy it is to setup a simple service and integrate with RES Workspace Manager and Automation Manager.

IT Store is not just about application delivery or even End User Computing, How should service delivery be approached? Services can be anything from delivering or making desktop applications available through to provisioning VMs in the datacentre or even provisioning accounts in Office 365. Some key points to bear in mind:

The IT Store is a be a mechanism which automates the business workflow for a service

The IT Store understands who should receive the service

The IT Store determines what the “trigger” for service delivery should be

The IT Store enforces approval processes (if required)

The ITStore launches any technical process required to enable the service

The IT Store deals with the return of the service if the user no longer requires it, or they no longer qualify

The timing of this release couldn’t be more perfect as IT departments have become or are starting to become service-centric operations. Overtime we need to think of our users as service consumers so they can choose how to compose their workspaces. The IT Store is the ultimate way to aggregate everything (processes, app delivery platforms, management tasks, etc.) into a one stop IT shop.

The point of this post was to just show you a brief view of the IT Store, to congratulate RES Software on a sterling effort and to thank them for listening to their customers. I can’t wait to see how this product develops!

Scroll down to see how it can be done (and ignore the background rubbish)…

We’ve been using Application Jukebox for a number of years but as a result of its lack of 3rd party integration or any real form of API, its use case has been restricted mainly to one Faculty with the occasional “specialist” application being used around the Uni.

This is a real shame for Jukebox because as an underlying technology it’s amazing, it can pretty much package (virtual) any app with full service, kernel integration, etc.

For the uninitiated, users currently go to a web portal, browse a list of available apps (no categories, search facility, recent or even favorite apps) and select their desired package (apps are allocated to a user/group or workstation). This downloads a token file which is opened by the Jukebox Player (the speed of this is stunning). Depending on how the app is configured, it will auto-launch or rely on the user going to the start menu shortcut (configured during the packaging process). – This is ideal in a BYO environment. In fact, in my opinion, one of the best solutions to deliver offline apps to users own devices and it comes with some great security features – kill pill, etc.

In a “managed” desktop environment, management and delivery of applications needs to be more dynamic. IT need to be able to choose not only who gets the package, but when, where, what on, etc and a combination of each. In a modern workspace, the application needs to follow the user. Where applicable user customizations and settings made to an application need to follow the user too. I need to be able to say, yeah you can use this student record system when on campus but not from home on a virtual desktop or TS session… Things I can’t do with Jukebox today.

So, how do you combine the best User Environment Management solution with one of the best application packaging solutions? Read on….

Pre-reqs and/or Recommendations

The following has been tested on RES Workspace Manager 2012 SR3, Application Jukebox 8.6.2 (x64) and Windows 7 ent X64.

Jukebox applications have been configured to not auto-run (recommended for this).

A VBS script is held in the RES Workspace Manager’s custom resources (Download it: JukeBoxRESWM). Please note, while modified slightly by “us”, the original script was provided by Numecent and I suspect is not supported.

In this file you need to change the following to suite you’re environment,

Dim licenseUrl
Dim renewalUrl
Dim providerKey

Also change the path to the Jukebox Player (if not using the x64 player).

The first line calls the vbs script specifying which application (using the apps Jukebox license No.) to stream down to the Jukebox player – note, the section that calls the app’s executable isn’t relevant (I only kept it for legacy reasons).

The second command is optional, it will remove the non-RES managed start menu items for the application (path may vary – depending on the app). This is a simple example but I suggest, to keep things “right”, do a check to see if the start menu item exists before deleting.

Step 4

Time to test…

On the test machine, remove the application from the Application Jukebox Player and refresh your workspace so the RES managed shortcut to the application shows up.

Navigate to the RES managed shortcut and open the application, you should see that the Jukebox player streams (virtualizes) the application and then “hopefully” launches it!

Wrap up

So there you go, a “method” of integrating both RES Workspace Manager and Numecent’s Application Jukebox. – I actually used a similar approach for App-V 5 applications before official support from RES.

So what are the benefits of this?

Well now you have the full arsenal of the all the context aware goodness in Workspace Manager, the ability to control the availability of the application based on user/group/device/location/device type and so on and a combination of each.

File type associations work (depending on the app) without having to go to the Jukebox portal to stream the app first.

User pinned start menu and taskbar shortcuts to the app now work!

A single application usage reporting view for everything!

In addition to this, roaming users (hotdesks, students, etc) don’t need to keep requesting the application on every machine they login too (especially if you use RES Service Orchestration [ITStore] which means the user only has to subscribe once) – This is something that really really really bugs me about Jukebox today.

I’ve tested several apps so far, Adobe CS6, SPSS, SolidWorks 2012 and a few others with all the RES Workspace Manager features (including zero profiles) and it seems to just work.

But as always the (current) downside is that, at the time of writing this, integration of the two products is not officially supported.

In addition to official support there is a lot of refinement each vendor could do to streamline this process, the ability to block/turn off Jukebox apps from publishing their own start menu items, not requiring the VBS script, etc.

I really hope each vendor can see the value of the other’s solution and work (quickly) to offer supported integration – I know of several customers/partners and prospective customers who want this!

The good news is that RES Automation Manager and Service Orchestration integrate just as seamlessly.

Again if you have integrated Automation Manager and/or Service Orchestration with VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop or even a good old sysprep deployment before then this is really nothing new.

Install the Automation Manager agent on the Mirage reference machine

Locate the agent in the Automation Manager management console and open its properties

Click on Prepare for Image and following the instructions (you can choose to run automation tasks when agents are first invoked).

Note that if you set a runbook/project to run when the Mirage client is “layered”, this job will run on every subsequent Mirage re-layering or layer update. – We found this useful in a hotdesk and/or student environment as we run delprof2 to clear any local user profiles or any profiles that didn’t remove properly (be nice if Mirage had an option to clean/remove local profiles).

Service Orchestration… Simple… Just install the Service Orchestration client on the reference machine, configure it to point to your environment.

So there you have it… Some more validation of how to combine the most exciting next gen deployment and management technology with the best user environment and system/service automation technology available today!

Fingers crossed our VMware Horizon Mirage business case is successful because I wouldn’t want to do it any other way!

RES Workspace ManagerSo we’re currently at the end of our pilot phase with Mirage and are now in that “anxious” Business Case phase. Like with any project you must set out clear success criteria. For us one of the key check boxes was compatibility with the RES product suite.

So the good news is that if you have integrated Workspace Manager with VMware View or Citrix XenDesktop before, it’s pretty much the same process.

]]>http://vdirantsandraves.com/2013/04/06/vmware-horizon-mirage-res-workspace-manager-integration/feed/1Using RES Workspace and Automation Manager with App-V 5.0http://vdirantsandraves.com/2012/12/18/using-res-workspace-and-automation-manager-with-app-v-5-0/
http://vdirantsandraves.com/2012/12/18/using-res-workspace-and-automation-manager-with-app-v-5-0/#respondTue, 18 Dec 2012 13:36:24 +0000http://vdirantsandraves.com/?p=180At the time of writing this RES Workspace Manager and Automation Manager do not currently support App-V 5.0 and PowerShell 3.

This article is the work around… We are using RES WM and AM to publish and manager App-V 5 packages. I’m guessing there are other/better ways of doing this

First of all using Automation Manager I created a new module called “App-V 5 Publisher”. Within this a “Command” task (note, PowerShell 3.0 is not supported at this time).The script field has the following,

Note: I use a parameter called AppPath to which we pass a variable from Workspace Manager.

Under the Settings tab, I execute the command using the windows command interpreter and I specify a domain based service account with local admin access.

Note: You need to ‘Load user profile’.

That’s all that’s required in Automation Manager.

Before the Workspace manager configuration I recommend you publish the app to your “test” machine which also has the WM management console… Un publish/remove when after the following steps.

In Workspace Manager, under Composition and Applications, create a new package (using the wizard if you prefer) and for the application path, browse/type the location of the published application (%programdata%\appv\etc\etc…

Configure the application as you would any other managed app. Note you can still use Process Interception, Zero Profiles, etc…

Under the Configuration options add a new Automation Task.

Now select the module you created in Automation Manager (above). You will be prompted to enter a parameter value for the module. Enter the path to your app-v package (Package.appv) on your content/network share.

Select ‘Skip if application executable was found’, ‘wait for task to finish before continuing’ and ‘Run before other actions’.

Click OK and ta-da, test away…

This is far from perfect but it works (for me anyway). My only recommendation at the moment would be not to publish packages with start menu/desktop shortcuts and use Workspace Manager for this. As the package is being published globally, other users of that workstation will be able to access the package (unless you implement other lockdown, etc).

It’s a start anyway!

]]>http://vdirantsandraves.com/2012/12/18/using-res-workspace-and-automation-manager-with-app-v-5-0/feed/0The Power of a Service Storehttp://vdirantsandraves.com/2012/12/02/the-power-of-a-service-store/
http://vdirantsandraves.com/2012/12/02/the-power-of-a-service-store/#respondSun, 02 Dec 2012 22:50:13 +0000http://vdirantsandraves.com/?p=165At work we have traditionally opted for a push “everything” to everyone and everywhere model with the desktop. This in my view is a legacy concept and can pigeonhole users in to a single “class” of user type.

For us (IT) it’s becoming increasingly challenging to manage the diverse range of users we have. From the task worker to mobile power user we can no longer “dictate” what people use to work/study.

One of the most exciting projects I think I’ve led in my time here is the introduction of the KUSS (Kingston University Service Store). With the KUSS we will (have already started to) change users into service consumers and empower our staff and students to control their workspace. This is achieved by providing a personal service catalogue, where services can be subscribed to and where the service will follow the user.

To give an example of how a small and simple service can dramatically improve the user experience, as well as save time and not have IT involved with the process…

One of our service store workflows has reduced one support task from an average 1 to 3 days response time down to 30 seconds!

Our academics often require the ability to have local administrator access on their managed workstations. The traditional process for this has been to,

Log a call with the service desk

Wait for the call to be escalated to the local support team

Wait for local support team to either remotely add the user to the local administrators group or visit the machine in person.

Now with the KUSS we are providing users with a self-service facility to grant local administration access on their local workstation without the service desk or IT being involved. In addition to this a job is automatically opened and resolved for the user on our helpdesk system (for audit purposes).

This is one of many “small” services that can have a big impact.

Of course a service store is much more than simple administration tasks… Application access, app delivery, drive mappings, printer access, storage and VM provisioning – Anything that can be automated/scripted can be turned into a service for users to “consume” and make life easier for IT – or at least allow us to focus on innovation rather than spending our time being reactive.

For those that are interested… We’re using RES Service Orchestration for the KUSS. I can’t think of a better product that brings self-service delivery and workspace management together.

]]>http://vdirantsandraves.com/2011/09/20/ku-vworkspace-multi-session-initiator-beta/feed/0RES, vWorkspace and WinTPC – A Winning Combohttp://vdirantsandraves.com/2011/08/20/res-vworkspace-and-wintpc-a-winning-combo/
http://vdirantsandraves.com/2011/08/20/res-vworkspace-and-wintpc-a-winning-combo/#respondSat, 20 Aug 2011 21:42:50 +0000http://vdirantsandraves.com/?p=81I bet there is not many (if any) people doing all three at the same time but I am and am pretty sure we will use this as our re-purposing strategy…

RES Workspace Manager composes the user desktop on the remote session. The user can now work…

Once finished with the remote session, the user logs out (instant logoff enabled in Workspace Manager)

Workspace Manager automatically logs the user off the physical workstation.

Job done!

Wait… What happens if a user needs to access another remote desktop/session?

Well RES have you covered here… Actually there are many waits you could splice this but my favourite (this week anyway) is to assign a different workspace container (with the other remote session allocated to it) to the same device and have the user choose at login…

Wait (again)…. What happens if they need to access multiple desktop sessions at the same time?

Well… RES (and only RES in this situation) have you covered again too… VDX styleeee.

I will document the steps to configure this setup in the near future….Honest

VDX effectively allows users to view locally running/installed apps on top of their full screen virtual desktop/RDSh session. It’s a little more than that but I’m not doing a sales pitch today (not feeling creepy enough).

VDX as it currently stands, supports Citrix ICA/HDX, Standard RDP (including RemoteFX) and I think PCoIP (not sure). With a little bit of tweaking it will work with the current (7.2 MR1 at the time of writing this) version of vWorkspace.

However as solutions evolve compatibility issues arise from time to time… With the help of the splendid chaps from both Quest and RES, I have been able to get VDX working with vWorkspace and this is how…

Note: As the vWorkspace connector for Windows is only 32bit, you still need to set the same dll (as above) on x64 systems however the Provision Networks key is located in, HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\ – I guess once Quest release a x64 connector then you will need to switch to the x64 VDX DLL.

Also… In the original RES KB, HKLM\Software\Provision Networks\Terminal Server Client was used… This now needs to be, HKLM\Software\Provision Networks\Terminal Services Client. This is where I went wrong!

I have tried this on both X32 (Win XP/7) and X64 clients (Win7) using RDP/EOP and RDP with RemoteFX and EOP connecting to a RDSh session. I assume it will work for RemoteFX/EOP on a VDI box but I’ve not had chance to test.

I guess the next step is to get Quest and RES’s products aware of each other to automate this process!

My Next RES/vWorkspace compatibility post will include RES Workspace Manager working with vWorkspace for VDI and RDSh.